Have you checked to see how much interest you are earning on your money at your bank lately? Have you given up on the prospect of earning interest because of all the low rates paid by most banks and credit unions?
I remember when I actually looked at how much interest I was (or wasn’t) earning at my bank. It was less than 0.5%! I had heard of others making more money in interest, but to be frank at the time I didn’t have a lot of money in savings, so I didn’t think much of it. Eventually, I saw the light and I realized if I was going to save money, I might as well earn as much interest as possible. After this, I did some research for high interest savings accounts and ended up opening a savings account at AMEX paying 2%.
As my money was growing at AMEX, I thought I was doing well… until I learned that I could put my money in an account that earned 5%.
Introducing Worthy Bonds
I attended FinCon 2018 where I met Sally Outlaw, the founder of Worthy Capital. The folks at the Worthy booth were asking attendees if they were interested in earning 5% interest and that got my attention. I had a chat with Sally and learned about their model where they provide low risk business loans that are secured by inventory in a manner that the collateral value significantly exceeds the amount they loan. Worthy raises the money to loan to these businesses by selling bonds at just $10 a piece and there are several ways to purchase these bonds.
How to Invest in Worthy Bonds:
- Buy Bonds Directly. Worthy has a simple to use website and mobile app interface where you can connect your bank account and purchase bonds via ACH withdrawal.
- Buy Monthly Bonds via Monthly Recurring Investment. When I first signed up with Worthy, I decided to “give it a test†so I only set my auto purchase to buy one bond per month. I later realized that if I was putting money in a savings account that just paid 2%, I might be better off if I diverted more of that money to Worthy which would pay me 2 ½ times the interest, so I increased my monthly bond automatic purchases.
- Use the Round Up Feature. There are many round up apps out there that will connect to your bank account and round up your purchases to the next full dollar. Worthy has the same feature where it will round up your purchases, and every time the round up balance reached $10, Worthy will purchase a $10 bond for you. One thing I like about using the Worthy round up feature is that there is no monthly fee to use it (some round up apps charge fees for managing or investing your money.)
- Automatic Reinvestment Option. Another feature of Worthy is that you can reinvest the interest that you earn by allowing your interest to accrue and when it grows to $10, Worthy will purchase another bond for you.
- Referral Rewards. So this isn’t a purchase, but Worthy Capital has a referral program where you can recommend Worthy (as I am doing now). If you recommend Worthy Capital and send someone your referral link (which is in your dashboard), you will receive a free bond when they sign up using your link and invest at least $100 and keeps it invested for at least 6 months. They will also receive a free bond when they invest at least $200. There are some additional rules around the referral program to protect the company from someone seeking to game the system.
One thing to note is that it will take a few days for your transaction to clear depending on your bank, but Worthy tracks it and show you when a transaction is pending and then when it clears.
Who Can Invest in Worthy Bonds and What is the Risk?
Anyone in the US who is at least 18 years old can invest in Worthy Bonds. You don’t have to be an accredited investor, however you are limited to investing 10% of your annual income or your net worth.
Worthy Bonds are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) however Worthy is not a bank so your money is not protected by the FDIC. The upside is that there is actual security for the bonds, so it is not volatile like the stock market. Some would say this makes the risk lower than many other types of investments and I would agree.
Although the bonds carry a 36-month term, you can cash them out at any time without penalty, which is another benefit over traditional investment accounts.
What are you waiting for?
Join Worthy Capital today and purchase your first $200 in bonds! When you do, they will reward you with a free bond (and I will get one too for referring you!).